This is the blog of Nader Elhefnawy, established in October 2008.
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Monday, December 24, 2012

The Weekend Box Office, December 21-December 23

The past few weeks have been thoroughly dominated by a handful of films (Skyfall, Twilight, The Hobbit), just three commanding the box office for seven straight weeks - a noteworthy pattern given how used we have become to seeing even event films last just a week in the #1 position. This week the top five included besides The Hobbit in the #1 spot two films already out for over a month - Rise of the Guardians and Lincoln (holding the fourth and fifth positions in their fifth and seventh weekends of release).

Once again, this has been a matter of the tepid response to much of the new product, making it easy for a Bond movie, the finale to the Twilight saga and the prequel to the Lord of the Rings films to exercise this sway (while Guardians and Lincoln also did reasonably well). Still, as Box Office Mojo reports, it has been a tepid weekend for the American office overall, The Hobbit included. While the film continues to perform quite well by most standards, it is doing markedly less well than previous films in the series, taking in $36.7 million over the three day period. That gives it just just under $150 million in the bank after ten days, and has Ray Subers estimating that it will finish its American run with "just" $280 million - rather less well than the original trilogy, despite the boosts of inflation, IMAX and 3-D charges to ticket prices.

Positions two and three went to new releases, the second to the Tom Cruise vehicle Jack Reacher, based on a series of Lee Childs novel on which hopes have apparently been pinned for a film series (which took in $15.6 million), and the third to Judd Apatow's Knocked Up spin-off This is 40 (which pulled in $12 million). Fellow new release, running behind Guardians and Lincoln (which took in a bit under $6 million each), the Seth Rogen-and-Barbara Streisand starrer The Guilt Trip wound up in the number six position (with just under $5.4 million), and the 3-D reissue of Monster's Inc. the number seven spot (with $5 million), hinting that this particular attempt of Disney's to milk past successes is running out of steam.

In case you're wondering, Skyfall is now down at number eight with $4.7 million more at the U.S. box office, bringing its American gross up to almost $280 million, and the global gross to $974 million.

How much the slew of Christmas Day releases will change the trend this autumn remains to be seen.